NBA 2025-26 Season Thread: THE NY KNICKS ARE CHAMPIONS! BING BONG!
Lettuce NBA!
and lettuce lol @ James Harden
maybe chet???
you slam dunk trade chet for giannis.
if it takes moving JDub u do it too. You need the Greak Freek to battle Wemby -- he's only going to get stronger. They probably arent paying iHart's 3rd year team option due to cap constraints and letting him walk.
The Giannis-OKC thing is laughable
I heard Bill Simmons in his podcast say Chet + Wallace + multiple FRP & swaps lmaooo
1) Giannis is turning 32 this year
2) He has a scary extension looming > All the great work of OKC (contracts, picks, etc..) could get undone if/when this becomes an albatros contract. Imagine paying 70M to 36yo Giannis
3) OKC badly needed shooting last night when the ball was in SGA's hands, Giannis isn't exactly helping with this
4) Next year will be 5 years since Giannis won a playoff series- the guy hasn't been able to be healthy
Chet was a disgrace last night but he's still going to be a great contract because he's just a tall dude who is an elite rim protector and he's not going to play Wemby every night.
With all the points above, I'd not trade Chet making 40M/year through years 24-28 for Giannis making 70M/year through 33-37 STRAIGHT UP
LOL at some people acting like the Spurs winning this series was some sort of inevitability. I'm willing to entertain the idea that the Spurs are simply better than OKC, especially with Jaylin Williams out. But if they are, it's only by the thinnest of margins.
As is often the case, the difference in last night's game was mostly 3 pt shooting percentage. If both teams had shot their normal percentage from 3, the game effectively would have been tied.
OKC doesn't need to do anything radical in the offseason.
LOL at some people acting like the Spurs winning this series was some sort of inevitability. I'm willing to entertain the idea that the Spurs are simply better than OKC, especially with Jaylin Williams out. But if they are, it's only by the thinnest of margins. As is often the case, the difference in last night's game was mostly 3 pt shooting percentage. If both teams had s
Agree in theory. Counterpoint:
1. Castle was a preposterous liability all series. He was the stupidest player I’ve seen play basketball in a long time, he can’t get stupider
2. The thunder don’t really have wiggle room to get better than what they are right now. The spurs will likely win it all and still have room to grow
3. I don’t see a scenario where wemby isn’t the best player on earth for the next decade. SGA is an overrated fraud who when everything was on the line was air balling 3s
4. Chet sucks
OKC doesn't need to do anything. Get healthy and hope Chet improves. And be super smart with their draft selection where they can pick somebody perfectly designed for their team rather than what most teams are doing there with picking potentially somebody that will eventually develop into a really good player.
The Giannis-OKC thing is laughableI heard Bill Simmons in his podcast say Chet + Wallace + multiple FRP & swaps lmaooo1) Giannis is turning 32 this year2) He has a scary extension looming > All the great work of OKC (contracts, picks, etc..) could get undone if/when this becomes an albatros contract. Imagine paying 70M to 36yo Giannis3) OKC badly needed shooting last night w
On the other side, Chet is also absolutely not what the Bucks should want in a deal for Giannis.
I think deals involving Portland where the Bucks would get their picks back are likely the best route. Otherwise, they need to get an absolute haul from Miami.
Agree in theory. Counterpoint:1. Castle was a preposterous liability all series. He was the stupidest player I’ve seen play basketball in a long time, he can’t get stupider2. The thunder don’t really have wiggle room to get better than what they are right now. The spurs will likely win it all and still have room to grow3. I don’t see a scenario where wemby isn’t the best player
Counterpoint:
1. Castle's main problem was that he turned the ball over too much when miscast as a primary ball handler. That problem more or less resolved when Fox returned.
2. Every single OKC player who contributed significantly during the playoffs is on the right side of the age curve except Caruso.
3. Health is never guaranteed for physical outliers like Wemby. I agree that healthy Wemby is likely to be the best player in the league for the foreseeable future. SGA the "overrated fraud" scored an efficient 35 in a pivotal game 7 and had 9 assists and 3 steals. He wasn't the problem.
4. Chet certainly sucked last night, and he may be ineffective against Wemby over the long run, but he isn't a useless player overall.
well that means you'll have zero options because if you win more than $5 there they'll cut you off
I wouldn't deal for Giannis unless he was willing to take less money then I'd consider it (I tend to think he just wants to get paid and go somewhere with nice weather, he seems pretty over the grind) but you can certainly ask the question if selling high on Chet is a good idea. If he can't be your 5 and can't really shoot then he is gonna be hard to maximize vs a team like the Spurs and he is on a 5/240. I probably wouldn't do it, just scanning the league there isn't really anything that excites me there.
Dort definitely has to go, I can't believe he started last night. It wasn't a main reason why they lost but you start off every game at a deficit then it is tough to keep battling back. Daigeneault did the same thing with Giddey 2 years ago. Maybe if you start McCain instead, Chet gets a few easier buckets, gets going early, doesn't have the same night. Spurs team of 22 years olds doesn't get to play with the lead and feel comfortable right from the jump perhaps. Just an awful decision to start him, you had 6 games of it and saw how bad it was. Then Daigeneault overcorrects and not only sits Dort to start 2nd half, but also sits Hartenstein as well which seemed like going too far. Just horrible process error that gets lost in the shuffle because it is the beginning of the game.
He was -6 to start the game and they lost by 6 before the Vassell garbage dunk (sent it over 212.5 total fwiw) Just sucks the life out of a team to keep having to battle from a deficit like that.
dont really see anyone on this list i'm dying to deal Chet for in a package, most of the guys better than him that you could actually get are older and/or more expensive
Chet just doesn't have "it".
It's not like he didn't play bad. He was literally scared of Wemby AND his own shadow.
He's not a winner. I'd move on from him.
So move him for a top whatever pick package.
Eh they got picks out the wazoo already and the chances of getting someone better than him soon enough to make a difference is meh.
It’s a 7 gamer, their 2nd best player barely played, the general strategy of Chet+a stronger big against Wemby didn’t get murdered after Game 1. Just stay the course and use the picks to round out the edges and replace Caruso/Hartenstein in a year.
Wemby after the game: "We beat these guys in the regular season too."
Says a lot. You own them in the reg season, beat them against the home court advantage in the post season. San Anton beat them 5 of the first 6 meetings this season, and then 3 of the last 4 with everything at stake. It is what it is.
It fits into the same slot as the Florida Marlins versus the Atlanta braves in the 1997 season. The Braves were a recent champion, winning 100 games, winning the division every year, etc. They were in the lead with Marlins in the draft position, but owning the Braves heads up, beating them 2/3 of the regular season games, then 2/3 of the games in the NLCS, 4-2. Marlins were the only team in the league that owned them.
I had a bet on the Marlins from Spring Training to win it all that year, at the old Aladdin Hotel in Vegas. I think it was my first ever bet at an actual legal sports book, me living across the country, had been out there many times but just poker, no sports book, hardly ever even stepped in them. I think I had 17/1 on the Marlins. When it hit, I joked at the poker table, "Now watch them implode the casino." It was an era of a lot of implosions. Not long later, it was announced the Aladdin was being imploded. Unreal. So I used a frequent flyer flight and flew out and back overnight, being unsure about the mailing it thing.
Anyway, these situations were very similar: Braves/Marlins and Thunder/Spurs. They fit in the same slot and produced the same result.
Agree in theory. Counterpoint:1. Castle was a preposterous liability all series. He was the stupidest player I’ve seen play basketball in a long time, he can’t get stupider2. The thunder don’t really have wiggle room to get better than what they are right now. The spurs will likely win it all and still have room to grow3. I don’t see a scenario where wem
Castle was playing out of position without Fox in a super high leverage spot against the best defensive team in the League in his second season. He is gonna be an incredible player
the Thunder have a ton of wiggle room given their picks & a ton of other tradeable assets
Chet is the weirdest looking pro athlete I can remember seeing. God speed to the groupie who's chasing that $ sign
Wemby after the game: "We beat these guys in the regular season too." Says a lot. You own them in the reg season, beat them against the home court advantage in the post season. San Anton beat them 5 of the first 6 meetings this season, and then 3 of the last 4 with everything at stake. It is what it is. It fits into the same slot as the Florida Marlins versus the Atlanta braves
Are you trying to convince yourself you made a good bet or something? I dunno what you bet, what the price was or when you bet it but if it was before the injuries, I'd probably feel fortunate you ran pretty good there. I do think the books made a mistake at the start of the series pricing J Dub as if he was just full go from the jump when his chance of reaggravation was pretty high and he had been battling injuries all year. That was not an easy spot to be thrown into for him.
What would have happened if both teams were fully healthy? As the great Jayson Tatum once ripped off from Kanye West when he was imitating like 5 different people at once after the '24 title...
"I guess we'll never know"
Wemby after the game: "We beat these guys in the regular season too." Says a lot. You own them in the reg season, beat them against the home court advantage in the post season. San Anton beat them 5 of the first 6 meetings this season, and then 3 of the last 4 with everything at stake. It is what it is. It fits into the same slot as the Florida Marlins versus the Atlanta braves
Lol at thinking a baseball team has a significant matchup advantage against another baseball team. MLB is the pro sport that is the least matchup dependent.
First game I ever watched in a sportsbook, just the fourth quarter of Game 7. It's just not my thing, cheering and booing ridiculously early on in games, meaninglessly. When I first saw that happening in a sportsbook decades ago, I walked out within a minute, kind of shocked. Not my bag. Even watching games at all when betting, not my bag.
Crowd in the sportsbook was overwhelmingly for San Anton. Dude sitting next to me with some kind of European accent said it was the first NBA game he'd ever seen. It was a massive heavyweight series, both sides delivering great blows. Epic. Where's the guy that said it wasn't?
San Anton tried ferociously to come back from 15 point deficits over and over in several games, and OKC answered just as furiously, pulling it back out. Then in Game 7, the Spurs turned the tables on that.
In the total season series, San Anton won 83% of their home games, by an average of 11 points. OKC won 50% of their home games, by an average of 2 points. It is what it is. OKC - 250 ... meh.
Ya umm....who gonna win the finals?
Spurs o43.5 -105 on DK (Best Price on market) is definitely worth taking. They were on pace for 40-41 wins before Fox/Wemby went down with injuries. They only played 5 games together. I parlayed Spurs/Knicks/Nuggets 50+ Wins for +612. Spurs were +300 and added Knicks/Nuggets for better odds. I also took a flyer on Spurs +7000 to title. Expecting a leap from Wemby to top 5 ITL a
Post from 8/16/25.
Reading the tea leaves like a GURU!!!
OKC is gonna make a big splash in the draft:
1. Trade Chet in a package for the #5 pick with the Clippers.
2. Then move up in a second deal from #5 to #3 and take Cam Boozer.
